Interview with Tony Justice
August, 2009
Prior to the FA Cup 3rd Round tie, Pattaya No8 School FC had been a bit of a mystery to us all. How had a school team managed to beat two league sides to earn the right to mix it with the most successful Thai club of recent years? I had been quite harsh to them in my pre match preview and, with ten minutes of the game left, I was in danger of looking extremely foolish, as they had matched us blow for blow. Luckily, as the amateurs tired, we managed to grab a couple of late goals and my blushes were spared. After the final whistle, I managed to grab a few words with Tony Justice, one of the driving forces behind our mysterious opponents. During the course of the interview Tony revealed a sensational piece of information!!
Me - Please can you give me a bit of background about your club. When you were formed? Who was instrumental in getting things started? Where you are based?
TJ - We formed the club approximately 4 months ago with the sole intention of entering the FA cup. We are an established law firm in Pattaya called Magna Carta Law Office. The owner of the law firm, a barrister called Pico, and his friend Tee, decided it would be fun to try to win the cup.
Me - So you're not Pattaya No8 School?!
TJ - We joined with Pattaya School No8 as we did not have the facilities at short notice. The players are all ours. However we gave the recognition to the school in the Thai press by way of a thank you. Our official name is MAGNA PATTAYA FC.
Me - Your manager, Tee, looks familiar. Can you tell me a little bit more about him?
TJ - He is a former Thai international called Tiwakorn Suksod. He has been a good friend of our company for a long time and I believe he went to school with Pico. He actually holds the record for the number of red and yellow cards for a Thai national player!
Me - Where do your players come from and how did you recruit them?
TJ - A lot of the players come from Tee's contacts in the sport.
Me - Your number 7 and number 9 really impressed me. Has there been any interest from any other clubs? Was Zico waving contracts at them after the game?
TJ - The number 7 is called Wanchai Harvor and our number 9's name is Prasopchoke Reanmai. Zico was asking about our No 9. It seems that he was impressed and was very interested in him. (Sign him up,Zico. The lad is class)
Me - You don't yet play in a league so how have you been preparing for your cup games?
TJ - Just training and a few friendlies. We played Sattahip on the Friday before our match with you and we won 8-0.
Me - Do you have any aspirations to become a league club?
TJ - It takes a lot of money to form a league club so we are just thinking what to do next. But we will certainly enter the FA Cup again next year.
Me - If you were to enter the Thai pyramid system, you would be competing with Pattaya United for support. Do you think that you'd be able to attract the crowds to watch Division 2 football when they could easily go and watch a higher league?
TJ - I'm not sure but I'm pretty confident that if we concentrated on this we would not be playing in the second division for too long.
Me - What are your feelings about tonight's game? I thought that you more than matched us. Admittedly it was a second string Chonburi team but they are still Premier League players.
TJ - I think we played very well, especially considering that we conceded a soft goal in the opening 5 minutes. There was a period in the second half between the 50th-65th minute when I think that anyone new watching the game would not be able to tell which team was the Premier League team. If we would have scored a 2nd goal (to equalise) it might have been closer. But when you scored the 3rd, I think our fatigue began to show and we just ran out of steam. Also going down to 10 men didn't help.
Me - How do the players, fans and management feel after your showing tonight?
TJ - The management are very happy that we gave a good account of ourselves. The players feel a bit deflated as they genuinely believed that they had a chance to go further in the tournament.
Me - Can you please tell me a little bit about your background. Where you come from, how you got involved in local football etc?
TJ - I come from London in the UK and played Sunday league football on Hackney Marshes. I have lived in Thailand now for 13 years and this is my home. I'm married to a Thai national and we have three children. I joined the Magna Carta Law Office 5 years ago. Tee joined us 1 year ago and it was at that stage we decided to get involved in football.
Me - It's been a wonderful occasion, is there Anything else you'd like to add before you disappear for a well earned drink?
TJ - I was impressed with your supporters. The game was played in a very friendly spirit and the atmosphere was great. I was pleased when we drew Chonburi in the draw. Having lived here for 13 years I've followed Thai football a lot. Especially Chonburi's exploits in the Asian Champions League. I thought your team was very professional and, even though the side was made up of mainly 2nd team players, you could see that everyone on that pitch, ourselves included, had a desire to win. I've really enjoyed myself.
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